341 



the last owner to servo all the requirements of a modern dwelling 

 house. The construction of the bay windows, catching every ray 

 of sun, was duly appreciated from the inside ; and the fine tower as 

 seen through them was a beautiful architectural object. Passing 

 out to the N. side of the quadrangle, the remains of the huge 

 oven, the kitchen and buttery hatch, and the stables for the 

 horses and men were visited, and the tour of the courtyard 

 having been made, a cordial vote of thanks was given to Mr. 

 Stafford Howard for his courtesy, and the members returned back 

 to the long street and found wai'uith and refreshment in the 

 hostelry of the Swan. Attempts were made after lunch to visit 

 the neighbouring heights for a view of the Severn valley (the 

 walk to Old bury Camp was necessarily postponed, the rain being 

 too persistent even for the walking members of the Bath Field 

 Club), but these generally proved unsuccessful, though some 

 umbrellas in the far distance indicated various efforts that way. 

 The Secretary, howevei', in a slight intermission of the rain, visited 

 an interesting section of Old Red in a field about three-quarters 

 of a mile S.E. of the station and to the N. of the line. A small 

 opening had been made and exposed the Old Red Conglomerate. 

 The top bed beneath some 2 feet of Red Marl being coarse Con- 

 glomerate, with large white quartz pebbles, graduating down- 

 wards into simple quartzite, with dark brown or black specs thickly 

 scattered throughout. The peculiarity in this section being that 

 the top bed was divided from the bottom by fissile bands of 

 red shales, having at their base a band 2 inches thick of loose 

 quartz pebbles, held but slightly together in a yellow matrix, 

 and crumbling away in the fingers ; the whole depth of the 

 section was 7 feet. At 4.50 the return journey was made, and 

 for the first time during the day the rain ceased, and the sun 

 shone out allowing distant glimpses of the Severn and Welsh 

 hills in the back ground to appear sufficiently clearly to 

 show us what had been hidden from our view during the morning. 

 (Vide Proceedings, vol. i., p. 102 for further account of Thorn- 

 bury Castle.) 



